


Cold Reading

by NyxEtoile, OlivesAwl



Series: Legacy of the Tower [10]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Original Work
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Legacy Characters, Original Character(s), Precognition, Roommates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:41:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28056330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NyxEtoile/pseuds/NyxEtoile, https://archiveofourown.org/users/OlivesAwl/pseuds/OlivesAwl
Summary: Cold Reading:  A technique or series of techniques used by paranormal performers in which the appearance of clairvoyance is achieved by gleaning personal details about a subject.Dammit, he was cute and really nice and he was totally going to think she was crazy. “This is going to sound really weird, but don’t take your usual train tomorrow morning.”He frowned. “Why?”She sighed. “Because if you’re on the subway platform at your usual time someone will die. And I know that sounds crazy and you have no reason to believe me but I swear it’s true.”He leaned back a little and raised his eyebrow. “So it’s not a coincidence I think you look like Scarlet Witch?”
Relationships: Original Male Character/Original Female Character
Series: Legacy of the Tower [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/965454
Comments: 56
Kudos: 142





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's another Taschegregger! Now it's time for Judith, the middle child and the only singleton. We actually started writing this before Alexei's story, so it stars around the same time or just before, and runs concurrent.

Judith Taschengregger was told, often, usually by people who rarely knew her, that she must feel very left out and jealous at being the only singleton in her family. And while there may have been a few times in her childhood when she’d envied her siblings for having their built in playmates, most of the time she’d only seen the advantages. She’d never shared a room, or a birthday with anyone. She had her own toys and clothes. Their parents had avoided most of the classic twin things like dressing them in matching outfits. But she knew her siblings all struggled, one way or another, with figuring out their identity separate from their twin or triplet. Also, when being discussed, Judith was always Judith. Not the twins or the boys or the triplets. There was something to be said for being your own person, especially in a family as big as theirs.

As for the built in play mate thing, now that they were all adults, they’d found their own favorites, and it wasn’t always the person you’d shared a womb with.

“I want a dog,” she informed Alexei at their weekly brunch. “Find me one.”

He tilted his head. “What do you want in a dog?”

She had been expecting this question, and so had and answer prepared. “A companion, who is content to spend evenings on the couch with bad movies. I’m not much of a runner, but I do hike in the summer. I already got permission to bring him or her to work, so it won’t be alone all day. I’d take it with me to run errands on the weekends.”

“Sounds workable. I’ll ask around when I do my shelter rounds.” Alexei was a vet. He and Judith had long bonded because the enhancements they’d inherited from their mother were. . . odd. Alexei was telepathic, but the only thoughts he could hear were animals.

“If you find one that’s a loud thinker there’s a chance I’ll be able to hear it.” She sipped her coffee. “Oh, and I like larger dogs.”

“They’re generally much more chill.”

“That’s always been my experience. And of course I will pamper and spoil as required.”

Alexei grinned. “Good, good.”

“It’ll be nice,” she said. “Now that I’m more settled at work I’m ready to settle in other parts of my life.”

“I can hear Mom’s ears pricking all the way up in Ithaca.”

“She’s going to be disappointed, then. I think dog is all the commitment I need right now.”

“She complains about the quiet these days. Maybe I should get her some dogs.” After raising eight kids, their parents’ nest probably did feel particularly empty.

“Get her goats. Make the vein in Aunt Nat’s head pop out.”

“Apparently the Barton’s goat is an idiot, and she can’t stand it.”

Oh, that poor goat. “Huh. I always assumed goats would be devious.”

“All animals have a full range within their capabilities, just like us. Some brilliant, some dumb.”

“Edie really should have brought you along to buy it.”

“I’m not sure a smart goat would be an improvement. Might be worse.”

“That would probably end in more shit getting eaten. Point taken.” She shrugged. “Maybe grand-dogs will do.”

“Esther’s making babies. Mom will be fine.”

“You given any thought to settling down?” Alexei was four years older than her, but he was a soft spoken vet who looked like and old fashioned movie star. If he wanted, he could probably have a take-a-ticket machine outside his bedroom door.

“If I ever wander across a woman who is weird enough to fit in with us? Sure.”

They were very strange. “If mom could find dad, surely we can someday find love.”

“That stuff’s not petty enough for you to see, is it?”

“I’d have to meditate on it. And it would have to be happening soon.” Judith’s power, an odd twist of her mother’s skills, with a bit of Wakandan enhancement mixed in, was to get premonitions of the future. But never for large, important moments, only tiny petty things. She couldn’t tell you who would go to war with who, but if you wanted to know if you’d spill coffee on your coat, she was your girl.

Lately, though, she’d been able to focus and see the larger implications of her visions. Sometimes they were still petty and meaningless. But sometimes they were just the first step in a series that would cause something larger to happen. The butterfly that starts the tsunami.

“I promise if I ever pick something up, I’ll give you a head’s up,” she told her brother.

“And I will find you a dog.”

“Thank you.”

She spent the rest of her weekend doing spring cleaning and working on her garden. She wanted to get the last of her bulbs planted now that the frost was unlikely to come back. And if Alexei did find her a dog she would need to figure out if she wanted to fence off a dog run, or just hope it wouldn’t bother her plants. Maybe a dog run for quick bathroom breaks, and it could be in the rest of the yard when she was there to supervise.

It was nice to plan something. She’d spent the early part of her twenties drifting a bit, getting lost in academia a bit, traveling. Their little group of superhero kids seemed to be either intensely driven or utterly rudderless. There was no in between. Judy had worried she’d never find a place to land. Then Darcy Bennet had announced she wanted to retire somewhere warm. When her mother had told her that on one of their many chats, the little part of Judith’s mind that sometimes saw the future had sat up and taken notice. She’d presented herself at the Tower the next morning.

Now, almost five years later, Darcy wasn’t entirely retired, but had reduced her hours significantly. Judith had a cute little house in the Connecticut suburbs and commuted into the city. Darcy occasionally made noise about her living in the Tower, but Judith didn’t like the city, especially to sleep in. It was crowded and busy and made her head hurt if she spent too much time there. There was more of her mother in her than she might admit.

Her train ride in the morning was a surprisingly relaxing way to start her day. A buffer between her work life and her home life. She could read or zone out on the train and have a few minutes in Grand Central to get a coffee and get in a good head space to start her day.

Waiting in the long line for a bagel Monday morning, she caught movement in her peripheral vision and glanced over to see a couple of very lost looking tourists having a rapid conversation in ASL, trying to figure out what train to take.

Judith and her siblings all spoke and understood multiple languages, thanks to their multi-cultural family and upbringing. They liked to joke, however, that ASL was their first language, because it was far easier for babies to make signs than words. So she was able to follow enough of the conversation to know they were _really_ lost and uncomfortable finding someone to ask for help.

With a sigh, she got out of line, walked over and waved to get their attention before signing that she was a local and how could she help.

They were going to NJ, which meant they needed to be in Penn Station and not Grand Central, and explained a lot about why they couldn’t find Amtrak. Getting there was convoluted, but she did her best to explain. One of them handed her his phone so she could type the directions in text. They thanked her profusely and offered to buy her a bagel. The line looked twice as long now.

“Thank you,” she signed. “But I should get to work, and you have a train to catch. Good luck!”

They waved and went off. She contemplated the bagel line—her office was upstairs, and it was not like she punched a clock. The someone tapped her on the arm and handed her a wrapped up bagel. She looked up to see a good-looking guy with dark shaggy hair and glasses. He signed, “I asked up front if they knew you and what you usually get.”

She blinked and took the bagel from him. “Thank you,” she signed. “You didn’t have to.”

He shrugged. “You saved me from going and helping those people myself. And I was two from the front.”

She grinned. “I guess us ASL users gotta stick together when we see each other in the wild, huh?”

“It can be a little like being lost in a foreign country and finding another ex-pat.”

“Almost exactly like that.” She lifted the bagel. “Thank you again. I guess we both did our good deed for the day.”

She kind of expected him to linger, and likely hit on her, because men always seemed to have intentions behind being nice. But he just smiled and told her, “Have a good rest of your morning,” and strolled off.

She felt a little like a hypocrite for noticing he had a nice ass. But she shook it off and headed for the Tower.

Darcy was in California visiting her grandson, so Judith had the admin office to herself. It also meant she had a stack of messages waiting for her when she got in. She ate her bagel and sorted her email from trivial to emergency, then started dealing with the emergencies. There were days that were all emergency - the world had no idea how often she saved it from the superheroes - but today actually looked pretty calm. There were three people complaining about the laundry system. Apparently the delivery robot was bringing the wrong clothes to the wrong apartments, and had also mangled a pair of Raf Ingesson’s wool socks that were a hundred years old. 

She emailed him not to put antiques in the equipment, and emailed Ada about taking a look at the laundry bot.

She was also going to add “not having to deal with a laundry bot” to her list of reasons not to live in the Tower.

That was by far the most interesting thing to happen, which made it a very good day indeed. Judith stayed late to clean her in-box out and let the trains empty out from rush hour. Just as she was shutting down she had a flash of her youngest sister, Rose, having computer trouble and losing a chunk of her graduate paper, so she sent her a text reminding her to back up and save as she headed down to the train station.

On her way across the concourse, she saw the man who’d bought her the bagel coming out of one of the coffee shops. She debated with herself if it was creepy to go say hi. She hated small talk and it wasn’t like they’d bonded much in the morning.

While she dithered, he spotted her and smiled, so she waved and made her way over. “Working late?” She signed.

His hands were full, so he said out loud, “Hi, Ernesto at the bagel place told me you were hearing.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Sign back, ‘cause I’m not.” His voice was very well enunciated and modulated. He must have lost his hearing later in life.

“I am,” she replied in sign, as requested. “My dad is deaf, so I learned ASL as a baby.”

He grinned. “I was a lot older. I’m Ben, by the way.” He made his name sign as well with his free hand.

“I’m Judith.” She did her name sign out of habit - a modification of the sign for art with a flourish to make the J motion- then finger spelled it so he’d know what it actually was. “Nice to meet you.”

He inclined his head. “Catching a train?”

“Yeah. I live in the suburbs. Was just cleaning out my inbox before I left.”

“I live uptown, I’m just catching the subway.”

He might have said something after that, but she didn’t hear it. Tomorrow morning while waiting for the subway, he was going to bump into a man on the platform. That man was going to bump into someone else, who would bump into someone else, who would spill their coffee on the man standing beside them. The guy who got the coffee spilled on them would react by taking a swing at the spiller. A fist fight would erupt, resulting in an innocent women being accidentally pushed onto the tracks and hit by the train.

When the vision faded she was sitting on the floor of Grand Central, head pounding, with Ben crouched next to her, looking concerned. She managed to sign something reassuring, taking a few deep breaths, hoping she wouldn’t vomit. Shit, that had been a bad one.

“Judith? Are you okay?”

“Fine, I’m fine.” The nausea passed and she took a deep breath, looking at him. Dammit, he was cute and really nice and he was totally going to think she was crazy. “This is going to sound really weird, but don’t take your usual train tomorrow morning.”

He frowned. “Why?”

She sighed. “Because if you’re on the subway platform at your usual time someone will die. And I know that sounds crazy and you have no reason to believe me but I swear it’s true.”

His face was bewildered. He put his coffee down on the ground so he could sign. “Are you saying you can see the future?”

“I see very small bits of the future.” Wishing this meeting had gone very differently, she added, “Does the name Taschengregger mean anything to you?”

He leaned back a little and raised his eyebrow. “So it’s not a coincidence I think you look like Scarlet Witch?” Not all of even the team had a “superhero name”, let alone one in common use, but she knew the Deaf community used the sign her father had given her mother many years ago, because their last name had an appalling amount of letters.

At least it made this part of the explanation easier. “She’s my mother. All of us kids inherited some sort of power and mine is premonitions.”

She could see him processing that. “So can I take a different train?”

“Yes. You just can’t be on the subway platform at your usual time.”

He nodded. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Judith stared a moment. “Really?”

“Really. You seem genuinely distressed. What harm is there in believing you?”

“Most people who barely know me give me funny looks when I start going soothsayer on them.”

He smiled. “I’m a trusting kind of guy.”

“Well. . . thank you. Very much.”

“You’re welcome.” He stood, and held a hand down to her to help her up. She caught his hand and got her feet under her as he pulled her up.

She ended up standing very close to him. He smelled extremely good. “It was very nice to run into you,” he said.

“You, too,” she signed. This was probably a really awkward time to ask him for coffee. “I better go. Try to get home before the migraine hits.”

“You going to be okay getting to your train?”

“Yeah. I’ll be okay.” If it got bad there were siblings she could call to meet her at the other end of the train. She took a reluctant step back. “Have a good night, Ben.”

*

The following morning, Ben took a later train. It was entirely possible, of course, that the lady from the train station was crazy, but it was just as likely she was genuinely Wanda Taschengregger’s daughter and had powers of some kind. He didn’t want that on his conscience if someone died tomorrow.

He’d be late for work, which didn’t seem like a big deal at the time. He texted his boss he’d miss his train and would be 15 minutes late or so. His company had recently been bought, and reorganized, and he’d gotten a new boss named Carlos. 

Carlos loved to talk about the importance of The Power of the Human Voice, and liked conducting all conversations over the phone. So Ben wasn’t surprised when he responded to the text by calling. Ben didn’t pick up, replying again with a text reminding Carlos that he couldn’t hear, and to please text.

Ben could hear some things, particularly if he cranked his hearing aid all the way up, but speech was difficult. If he was looking at someone, and they spoke very clearly, he could mostly follow along. Enough to order a bagel. Phone calls were absolutely out.

The train had mechanical issues, and ended up delayed another 20 minutes. He had two more rounds of texting Carlos and Carlos calling back via phone.

He was 40 minutes late for work—something that shouldn’t matter considering that his work wasn’t time sensitive and he was salaried. But the new company had some complicated points system tracking absences and tardies like they teenagers. He didn’t entirely understand it because the HR rep who’d explained it mumbled, and the only way to contact corporate HR was via helpline.

Which was unfortunate, as it turned out, because being more than 30 minutes late without permission gave him a point more than he was allowed. . . and just like that he was out of a job.

Carlos claimed his hands were tied by policy. If Ben wanted to complain he could call the HR hotline.

This was one gigantic mess of ADA violations all piled on top of each other. What he really needed was a lawyer—though for the moment he had a bigger problem. He was buying an apartment, and closing was Monday morning.

After cleaning out his desk he spent the morning at a table in a local coffee shop texting with his realtor. Theoretically, they could go forward with the sale. But odds were good once the bank heard about the firing they’d withdraw their loan, which would put him in the lurch. And once the final papers were signed he was responsible for the price of the apartment, one way or the other. It was better, financially speaking, to pay the fee for withdrawing his offer and start over when he had a new job. Unfortunately, the fee would eat up a good chunk of the money he’d saved for a down payment. It would be another year or more before he could save up again, _if_ he got a job that paid as much as the previous one.

In the course of a morning, he’d lost his job, his new apartment, and a sizable portion of his savings. All for taking a later train on the word of some strange woman he knew nothing about.

After lunch, he got an email back from his current landlord that he was sorry, but he’d already lined up a new tenant with a signed lease. So he was homeless, too. Fantastic.

By all rights, he should head home. He had a lot of stuff to do and a wrecked life to fix. But he found himself hanging out in Grand Central until the evening, watching the crowd until he spotted her.

He marched right over. “Hi. You didn’t tell me that listening to you would ruin my life.”

Her mouth opened and closed, clearly shocked. Then she signed, “What?”

“I got fired because I was late. It went downhill from there.”

“Oh, god, I’m so sorry. I don’t see all the possibilities I just. . .” Her hands flexed a moment. “Can I buy you dinner? Maybe I can help.”

Ben sighed. “I will accept a free meal.”

“Do you like steak? I know a good place down the street.”

“Steak and a strong drink and you’ve got a deal.”

“You’re on.”

She lead him out of the station and up a few blocks to a nice dimly lit restaurant decorated like a mens club. The hostess seemed to recognize her and they got a booth in the back, underneath a bright lamp that made it easier to see her and her hands. He wondered if she’d requested that on purpose.

They both ordered drinks, then she looked at him seriously. “Okay. Tell me what happened.”

Ben went through his whole horrible day, from his former company’s ridiculous policies, to his landlord’s email. Judith looked alternately sympathetic and horrified, apologizing multiple times as he got through it.

He sighed. “I could probably sue them. I’m pretty sure the lateness was just a handy excuse covering Carlos’s issues with my disability. I can’t even contact HR, they outsource it to some sort of call center that won’t take a relay call, or let me use any kind of digital transcription, because of ‘confidentiality reasons’.” He made air quotes.

“My father has many stories about call center bullshit,” she told him. “I know a lot of lawyers, if you do want to sue them.”

“Suing won’t solve any of my current problems.”

“True.” She tapped the table with her fingers and took a slug of her rum and coke. “Okay. One problem at a time. When are you getting kicked out of your apartment?”

“Next week. I gave myself overlap for moving.”

“I assume you live out of town? Upstate or Connecticut?”

He shook his head. “102th Street. My new place was on 56th.” 

She made a face. “Don’t suppose you feel like slumming it in Connecticut for a couple weeks?”

“Are you offering to let me crash on your couch?”

“It would be a guest room. With a door.”

He stared at her a moment. “You hardly know me. What if I’m a serial killer?”

To his surprise that made her grin a little. “Then this is an extremely complicated plot to get to me. But I’m a pretty good judge of character and I don’t feel any malice in you. Besides, you know who my mother is. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“Well. . . then I accept. I don’t particularly want to go broke living in a hotel.”

The grin widened. “Good. Next problem. What do you do for a living?”

“I am an accountant. It’s very boring.”

“It seems rude to agree with you.”

He laughed. “Sometimes boring can be nice. I don’t want my job to have drama.” He took a drink. “What do you do?”

“I’m . . .” She paused, fingers flexing. It was funny, she had some habits he saw only in life-long deaf people. Probably picked up from her father. “I’m an Avenger herder.”

“Avenger herder?”

“I work as a civilian administrator for the Avenger team. I organize PR things, handle team requests. Manage building resources. A bunch of the behind the scenes stuff of running a superhero team.”

“That sounds like a job that is not in any way boring.”

She was clearly laughing. “No, it is the opposite of boring. Sometimes it is downright terrifying.”

“I really don’t think I could handle something like that.”

“It’s an acquired taste. My aunt Darcy has been doing it for years and fell into it by accident. She’s got a grandkid in California now and her husband has health problems so she wants to retire and move out west. I’ve been apprenticing for a few years but I think she’ll be moving on by the end of the year.”

“Do you feel ready?”

From the look on her face, he wondered if anyone else had asked her that. “You know, I think I am. It’s not really a job you can ever fully be prepared for. But I think I have the right personality for it.”

“Yeah. I can see that about you.”

She smiled. “I think that’s a compliment.”

“It is, it is. You seem very together. And being able to see bits of the future probably helps quite a bit.”

“It doesn’t hurt, I’ll say that. Probably less explosions on my watch than Darcy’s.”

“Still. I can see how they’d want to keep that in the family.”

The expression she made was hilarious. “Yeah. Avengers are kind of like sausage. You don’t want to know how they work.”

“Maybe I do. After this experience I can write my memoirs.”

She laughed, nose crinkling. “You’re going to have to get in line. Half the inner circle has been threatening to write a tell all for years.”

“It would be quite the best seller. Though I’m a terrible writer so I’d be pushing that boundary.”

“Practice improves everything.” She waved her hands to indicate changing the subject. “Anyway. I have a lot of connections. I’ll put feelers out for anyone who needs an accountant. Somewhere without shitty attendance rules.”

“I would really appreciate that, thank you.”

“You’re welcome. It’s the least I can do. I really do feel horrible.”

Ben shrugged. “Hey. Saved somebody’s life, didn’t it?”

“You did. A mom with a couple kids.”

He ducked his head a moment. “Yeah. That’s worth it.”

She smiled. “It’s nice to have someone to sign with.”

“I’m not a bad roommate. I’m definitely quiet.”

She laughed. “How do you feel about dogs? I may be getting one soon.”

Ben grinned. “I love dogs. I’ve never been able to have one living in the city.”

“You know, I think we’re going to get along fine.”

“Do you have a garage or something for my furniture or should I get a storage space?”

“I have a garage. If there’s anything super special you might want to keep it inside or get a storage space. But I mostly use it of storage and my extra art stuff.”

“My apartment is 400 square feet. There’s not a lot of stuff. I have movers scheduled, I’ll call and see if they’ll drive to Connecticut.”

“Give my your phone I’ll give you my address.” He handed the phone over and she typed in an entire contact for herself before giving it back. “I grew up with seven siblings. I’m an excellent roommate.”


	2. Chapter 2

“You invited him to live with you?!”

Judith winced, but didn’t look over at the robot hovering her mother’s face a few feet away. “Louder, mom, they didn’t hear you in Wakanda.”

“Judith-“

“It’s temporary until he can get a new job. I have space and he seems like a nice guy.”

“He’s a strange man you met in the train station!”

Judith dug deeper to get a particularly stubborn weed. “He’s deaf,” she offered, in case that might sway her mother.

Mom sighed. “I’m going to come visit.”

“No, Mom, you can’t kill him with your brain.”

“I am not coming to kill him. Just to size him up. I’m pretty good at that.” Her mother’s Sokovian accent made her sound remarkably sinister.

“I’m pretty good at that, too,” she said. “He missed his train because a crazy lady he met at a train station told him to. That indicates a certain level of good guy.”

“Call it a welcome dinner. I won’t even bring your father. Though he’ll probably want to come.”

“He’s less scary than you.”

“I. .. . can’t really argue with that.”

She sighed. “Look, he’s supposed to be here with the movers this afternoon. Give him a couple days to get settled before I dump the former Avenger and famous in the deaf community doctor on him, okay?”

“If he’s got any ill intentions three days will be plenty of time for them.”

“Mom, I am more than capable of taking care of myself.”

“I know,” she said with a sigh. “But I still worry.”

“Because you’re my mom. But seriously, Ben seems like a really nice guy. It’ll be fine.”

Once she got her mother off the call, she had some quiet time to work on her garden before she heard the sound of a truck rumbling up her street. She stood, brushing off her knees and taking her gloves off as she watched the truck rumble up the street. Raising a hand, she saw the driver respond and pointed him to the driveway. After some careful maneuvering, he backed in and climbed out, Ben hopping out of the passenger side.

It occurred to her, briefly, that her mother _was_ pretty handy during moves.

She unlocked the garage and they moved most of his furniture into it, then piled boxes into her spare room. Judith made an effort to stay out of the way, not wanting to hover. Ben found her in the kitchen making a sandwich as the truck pulled away. She put her knife down to sign, “All set?”

“Looks that way. I really can’t thank you enough for this.”

“Don’t dismember me in my sleep and we’ll call it even.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, sure. Seems fair.”

“Cool.” She gestured to the sandwich. “Want one?”

He came closer to peer at her cold cuts, and then nodded. “Thanks. And we should talk about how we’re handling that stuff.” 

“Food and stuff, you mean?”

“Yeah. I haven’t had a roommate in ages, but the last time we had separate fridge shelves and cabinets.”

“Seems as good an idea as any. Again, with seven siblings I’m not particularly territorial, so feel free to ask if you need something.”

“If I’m honest, I’d rather share meals.”

She grinned. “Good. So would I.”

“I have been told I’m a decent cook.”

“I’m an excellent cook. Together we should be just fine.”

They sat to eat their sandwiches, and then hashed out the details of splitting the food and and various other incidental bills.

“Oh,” she said as they were rinsing their plates. “Before I forget. My parents are probably going to come up for dinner some times this week.”

He chuckled. “I figured they would.”

“You’re very lucky my mother didn’t come today. Descending from the clouds like an avenging angel.” She made a face. “No pun intended.”

“I can send her my social security number to run a background check if you’d like.”

Judith shook her head. “It’ll only encourage her.”

“I don’t blame her. I’m a random guy from the train station.”

“I’m a random girl from the train station. We’re practically a meet-cute.”

He looked a little wistful at that. “We were, weren’t we?”

“There is definitely a rom com or like, women’s lit novel that starts like that.”

“They second one. . . is that the sort where you kick me out at the end because you realize you need to find yourself, and can’t do that with a man around, but we’ll always think fondly of each other?”

“Yeah. Or you die of some sort of disease and I find myself on the other side of my grief.”

“Well, I’ve already almost died once, so why not again?” 

She blinked and leaned her hip against the counter. “You did?”

“My mother was opposed to vaccines. Sometime about toxins? I got measles when I was a teenager. Turned into viral encephalitis and a coma. Week in the ICU and when I woke up I couldn’t hear.” He tapped the left side of his head. “I can hear a little out of that one. Enough to occasionally be useful.”

She really wanted to ask if he still spoke to his mother, but it seemed rude. “I’m sorry, that sounds awful. And terrifying.”

“It was. But I’ll tell you, the hospital is way less annoying when you can’t really hear all the beeping and clicking the machines make.” He shrugged a little and went back to his food. Her father made all sorts of jokes about being deaf having its upsides, usually about the annoying noises he got to avoid. 

After 8 children, her mother joked Dad’s true superpower was his limitless ability to calmly hold and rock a shrieking colicky baby for hours on end. 

Judith put her dishes in the dish washer and headed back out to the garden to finish weeding. He probably had unpacking and settling to do and she didn’t want to hover. Alexei hadn’t gotten back to her on the dog yet, but she’d decided setting up a run off the kitchen door made the most sense, so she was trying to get her flower bed in order before she started clearing for that. It was nice to have a new project. Gardening was her main hobby, but once things were planted there tended to be a lot of waiting around with nothing new to do.

Ben came outside an hour or two later. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had a yard.”

She rocked back on her heels. "This is flowers. The raised beds are edibles, but it's mostly cabbage and root vegetables right now.”

“You don’t want me to touch anything, I can’t keep a fern alive.”

"We'll get you a nice fake cactus to water," she told him with a smile.

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

"What do you do for fun?”

“I read a lot. I like doing fidgety things with my hands to relax. Puzzles, building lego houses, that sort of thing.”

"Jigsaw puzzles?" she asked hopefully.

He grinned back. “Have we found a communal activity?”

"I think we have. My mom was big on family time. And jigsaws were good for practicing telekinesis.”

“It is a little hard to talk, though. Not that that’s always a bad thing.”

She considered that a moment. "Do you want me to ask Dad if he has any spare translators?”

“I have a voice-to-text one I use for work, but all of them I’ve tried are kind of crappy for conversation.”

“His are completely different. Originally designed by Tony Stark and tweaked by various geniuses here and in Wakanda. They're not available on the market, 'cause they're too expensive to mass produce.”

“I get the sense that’s the case with a lot of your tech.”

"Quite a bit, yeah. A lot of it is run by an AI called FRIDAY. We can't really release her to the general public.”

“Sounds like that would be very handy to have.”

"Oh, FRIDAY is great." Judith stretched and stood. "I have her at work, but not here, though several cousins do. She'll be in any translator I track down for you.”

“I would really appreciate that. It might even help in my job search.”

"I'll text him. He's had so many versions, there must be a closet full of them somewhere.”

“And now they have an excuse to visit.”

"They would have anyway, but Mom will appreciate the veneer of social politeness.”

He cleared his throat. “I was thinking of going to the grocery store. . . but I can’t walk to it, can I?”

Judith made a face. "No. Sorry. I get most of my groceries delivered, but we can drive down to the store if you want.”

“I figured I’d cook you dinner tonight.”

She smiled. "That's very sweet. For that, I'll drive you down to the store.”

“You’re doing me an enormous favor—regardless of how I ended up in this mess. It’s still big. I can feed you.”

"Let me wash up and we'll head out.”

*

Ben cooked them dinner, and then Judith rustled up a puzzle for them to do. They couldn't talk while they worked, but it was a remarkably comfortable silence. He slept better that night than he had in months—probably since before he started working for Carlos.

In the morning, he walked into the living room and got to meet the most powerful woman on the planet.

"You must be Ben," she signed, a pleasant smile on her face.

He smiled back. “I certainly know who you are.”

"I'm more famous in some areas than others. Judith is still asleep, but I started the coffee and some breakfast, if you want some.”

“You feed your suspects before interrogation, that’s very civilized of you. I’d love some breakfast.”

Her mouth quirked into a smile and she gracefully got to her feet to walk to the kitchen. Ben followed her.

Wanda Taschengregger - known more commonly as the Scarlet Witch, at least among the Deaf community - looked younger than her years, especially considering the number of children she'd raised and the hard life she'd lived. Grey threaded artfully through her thick dark hair and the only creases on her face were smile lines and faint crows feet around her eyes. She was still very pretty and her fingers when they signed were smooth and elegant.

“I lost my hearing as a teenager,” he said out loud. “I can speak, but I can’t hear much.”

She nodded, peaking into the oven to turn back to him. "I sign as habit now, even with hearing people, sometimes. I have no problem signing. You can reply in sign or verbal, whatever your preference.” 

He sat at the table. “Did Judith explain my circumstances?”

"She did. I'm sincerely sorry for what happened. Judith is only just able to start seeing the greater implications of her visions. Had she known what would happen she would have warned you better.”

“Don’t be sorry. We saved somebody’s life, and it seems to have sort of worked out in the end. I didn’t sleep in a motel last night.”

Wanda smiled. "You did a life. Judith's premonitions are small and sometimes silly, but they are always accurate. The fact that you listened to her impresses me. Even if I'm a little concerned a strange man is now living with my daughter.”

“You are welcome to run a background check, I’m extremely boring.”

"I was already planning on it, but your permission is appreciated." She opened the oven and took out a loaf pan full of some sort of baked good that smelled incredible. "Mostly I wanted to meet you and get a look at you," she signed once she'd set it on the counter. "I can tell a lot about someone by meeting them.”

“Figured out anything about me yet?”

She tilted her head, studying him. "You are kind, but a little lost. You worry you are too boring, but find no real urge for adventure. Your family ties are strained. And you are worried I will disapprove and you'll have to leave which you don't want to, not just because of your financial issues, but because you enjoyed having someone to spend an evening with last night.”

Ben tilted his head. “That feels like more than a cold read. I’ve heard rumors. . .”

She smiled enigmatically and Ben felt a tap on his shoulder as Judith came into view. "Mom never tells all her secrets," she signed to him, before leaning in to kiss Wanda's cheek. "I thought I smelled povitica.”

“She came to size me up,” Ben said.

"I figured she would. You could have at least brought one of Dad's translators in case you liked him," she added in Wanda's direction.

"There's one in my bag," she replied mildly. "I think he passes muster.”

“Thank you,” Ben said. “Sincerely, it will help a lot with finding a job.”

"You're welcome. I wish we could offer them to more people, but none of our resident geniuses has been able to get it to work as well without the AI."

"They do have a few non-AI ones the've donated to deaf schools and the like," Judith offered, getting her coffee ready.

Wanda shrugged and started cutting into the pastry she'd made. "We help where we can.”

“Really good language processing is hard, so I’m told.”

"I don't entirely understand it, no matter how many times Tony or Ada tries to explain, but real-time accurate translation is very difficult without and AI to process it. We manage to do it for schools because it can have a somewhat limited dictionary to chose from. It doesn't work in real life. I think most ASL fluent people would find it more frustrating than helpful." Wanda handed him a plate. "But we'll let you have the AI one."

"She can make phone calls for you as well," Judith added. "So you can deal with the HR hotline.”

The hotline wouldn’t let him use relay or live transcription, and the digital ones that he could hide did not handle call centers over the phone well at all. After she put the plate down, Wanda handed him a pair of glasses. Ben took them and then pointed at his face, which already had glasses on it. “These are prescription.”

“I assumed. FRIDAY will scan your eyes and adapt the lenses, don’t worry.”

Ben took his glasses off, and put the ones he’d been handed on. There was an uncomfortable flash of light, then when his vision cleared everything was in focus. That was something else, all on its own. 

A ghostly blue person now stood in the room, and he lowered the glasses a moment to confirm that it was some kind of AR. “What is that?”

“I’m FRIDAY,” she signed. “I will interpret for you.”

“That’s the AI,” Wanda said aloud. “I assume you’re seeing a holographic woman? She looks like that because the more realistic ones were too Uncanny Valley.”

FRIDAY signed everything she said, in real time like a live interpreter. Ben was genuinely astonished. “Holy shit.”

"I think it's working," Judith said.

"That is the standard reaction, yes.”

“This is _amazing_.”

“She is also able to translate from your hands and face and speak the words out loud,” Wanda said. “Which you don’t seem to need, but my husband does. He’s congenitally deaf and never learned to speak.”

Judith cut her own - large - piece of pastry and sat at the counter to eat. "Us kids all learned it before we could speak out loud. Sometimes we used it in school to tell secrets.”

“Seriously I can’t thank you enough.”

"You're very welcome," Wanda signed. "Zev and I are both glad to see it go to a good home.”

He paused to eat some of the pastry, which was delicious. Judith and Wanda got on to a different conversation. FRIDAY moved with the direction of his gaze, so was currently a little miniature person sitting on the kitchen table, interpreting their conversation. Being able to just casually overhear a conversation between two hearing people was _wild_.

Wanda stayed about an hour, checking out Judith's garden and discussing the dog run she was planning to build.

"I'm sure Alexei will find you a lovely companion," she said, gathering up her bag. "Speaking of, he's next on my visiting list. I'll see you next Sunday?"

Judith nodded. "As always. Do you want me to bring anything?”

She pointed at Ben. “You should bring him.”

Judith glance over at him and grinned. "So I take it he passes muster?”

“I think he’d have fun is all.” Wanda had a very mysterious smile.

"I'll give him a full warning and see what he thinks," she promised, leaning in to kiss her mother's cheek. "See you later.”

“What’s next Sunday?” Ben asked when she’d left.

"Monthly family dinner," she explained. "Second Sunday of every month our family gathers at Esther's house for dinner.”

Ben laughed a little. “She knows I’m just your roommate, right?”

"Yes, but we do tend to have our conversations in ASL, so Dad doesn't have to wear his translator. Might be a fun experience for you. There's _a lot_ of us, though.”

“I like people,” he replied. “I just usually can’t converse with many in person.”

She smiled. "You'd be more than welcome. We love new people. And I'm sure by then everyone will have heard our story.”

“The weird man Judith took home from the train station?”

"Yeah, him." The smile turned to a grin. "Mom thinks he's probably not a serial killer.”

He laughed. “That’s good to know.”

"I'm glad her visit was mostly painless. Sorry she just dropped in.”

Ben shrugged. “It was a completely reasonable thing to do. I am, you know, a weird man her daughter brought home from the train station.”

Judith made a face. "You know, when you put it that way I sound like a real loon.”

“Well. Your family knows you can see the future.”

She shrugged. "Eh, it's not that impressive the more you get to know me.”

Ben shook his head, and went to get more pastry. “Only someone raise among superheroes would think that.”

"Maybe. But you tell people you can see the future and they picture grand visions of earthquakes and assassinations. I see teeny tiny moments and most of the time they're pretty inconsequential. I had no idea what would happen to you if you missed your train. It would have taken me hours of meditation to _maybe_ figure out you'd lose your job. I'm useful in the moment - the day I met you I saved my little sister from losing an important paper in a computer crash - but in the grander scheme I'm pretty useless.”

He watched her a moment. “But you’re sane. I’m not sure someone can see life altering events doesn’t eventually lose their mind.”

That seemed to stop her. He could see the thought roll over her as she considered it. "That's probably true." She reached over and stole a bit of his pastry with her fingers. "The headaches suck, though.”

“Does that happen every time?”

She shook her head. "Not every time, at least not bad. The headache after Rosie's paper was kicked with a cup of coffee on the train. But the big ones - the ones that have repercussions - those hit me like freight train." Getting up, she went to get a second cup of coffee. "In retrospect, I should have known yours had more to it, but since it involved a death, I just chalked it up to that.”

“And if you meditate, you get more detail?”

"Yes, I can. . . follow the trail. Mom thinks some of my premonitions - the migraine ones - are like the butterfly flapping its wings that causes a tsunami. If I can follow the trail of dominos sometimes I can get from the trigger to the bomb, so to speak.”

“That sounds terrifying,” Ben said.

"It gives one a whole new respect for butterflies, that's for sure," she agreed, sipping her coffee.

“If you started following the trail, when would you stop? Sometimes some surprisingly good things come from the bomb fallout.”

She sat at the kitchen table with him. "I suppose I could go on infinitely. And I do try to get past the major disaster to see further implications. But the farther into the future I go, the harder it is. The various extended family who understand this sort of thing think it's because the farther into the future I go the more variables there are. More wings effecting the storm.”

“I don’t know that I’d want to know any of it, to be honest.”

"I'll spare you the details, then. Next time one hits.”

“Judith, you can tell me anything you want.”

She smiled softly. "Even though the last time got you in a heap of trouble?”

“Well,” he said with a shrug. “The fallout has been surprisingly good.”

She blinked rapidly and the perplexed look on her face was sort of adorable. "I think I'm flattered?”

He felt himself blushing. “Sorry. Did you need help with the garden today?” He asked.

"If you want, I could use a hand clearing out space for the dog run. And maybe we'll have time to run to the hardware store for some fencing.”

“Sounds like fun.”

It actually was fun. They got the side yard cleared out quickly and drove into town to get sandwiches and fencing material to properly block off the run from the garden. This involved a hilarious phone call to Judith's "Uncle Bucky" in which she had to convince the Winter Soldier and the Original Hawkeye that no, she did not need them to come down and install a dog run fence, she could handle it, she just wanted to know what kind of materials and method they recommended. 

Eventually, she pulled the "independent woman" card and managed to get Dr. Newbury-Barnes on the other line who managed to distract the men with the list of projects they already had up in Ithaca.

The Avengers family was clearly very close and very strange.


	3. Chapter 3

The first week with her new roommate went pretty well, as far as Judith was concerned. Ben was good company when she was home and occupied himself when she was at work. She came home to dinner on the stove for the first time since leaving home. She had forgotten how nice it could be to come home to a warm house with the lights one.

On Sunday, she brought him to family supper at Esther's house, as ordered, as well as a big bowl of macaroni salad to add to the table. Everyone pitched in with food so Esther wasn't overwhelmed and this month Judith's assignment had been side dish.

Esther and her wife lived in New York state—though not as far north as her parents—in a large Colonial house with something like ten bedrooms and a couple acres of space. Their five kids ranged from thirteen to four and Judith strongly suspected there'd be a sixth one before Esther hit the big 4-0.

"They're aggressively suburban," she told Ben as they drove through their winding neighborhood. "All they're missing is a white picket fence.”

Ben laughed. “Is your sister going to be wearing pearls and an apron?”

"Pearls, maybe. Apron, most definitely. Fortunately the kids have outgrown being dressed in matching outfits for company.”

“Now I’m a little scared.” He paused. “This is really trippy, I’ve never had a conversation with someone driving a car before.”

She grinned. "My dad says the same thing. He spent half his life not been able to chat in the car, then met mom and suddenly a whole new world opened up.”

Judith turned up the driveway. The house loomed on a small hill, and the driveway already had a line of cars. Her parents were here, she could see the jet parked on the lawn.

She pulled up to the last car and parked before turning to Ben. “Ready?"

“As I’ll ever be.”

They climbed out of the car and he handed over the huge bowl of mac salad before they walked up to the house. Judith had him give a perfunctory polite knock before opening the door and heading in. "Hello, I bring mac salad and a new person.”

Esther popped up from the couch and came to take the bowl. “Dad didn’t bring his translator.”

"Ben was looking forward to a dinner of ASL," Judith signed in return. "Everyone, this is Ben. Ben, my insane family.”

“Nice to meet you,” he replied, then added, “My family is small, be gentle.”

“We won’t toss you in the bounce house out back with the kids until after dinner,” her youngest brother offered.

Esther rolled her eyes. “None of you have any manners.” She shifted the bowl to shake Ben’s hand. “I’m Esther.” She turned and pointed. “Dimitri, Rose, Ilya, Lior and Levi are our siblings. That’s Jessica, Levi’s girlfriend.” She looked at Judith. “Dad and Alexei are outback with the grill, Mom’s watching the bounce house and Lillian is around. . .somewhere.” 

"Thank you." She turned to Ben. "Want to come meet dad and my favorite sibling."

"Rude," Esther teased her, carrying the bowl back to the kitchen.

“This is the one that is procuring you a dog?” Ben asked.

"Yes," she replied. "The vet. He's Esther's twin, oldest boy.”

The patio outback had a fancy outdoor kitchen, and she could see her father and brother in front of a pair of grills. Dad turned and waved. “You must be Ben,” he signed. “I’m Zev, that’s Alexei, do you eat meat?”

Ben grinned. “Early and often.”

Judith hugged her dad, then Alexei. "Hi. Where's my dog?”

He made a face. “I’m working on it.

"Slowpoke." She leaned back and gestured. "This is Ben, the subway guy. This is my big brother Alexei.”

“I’m sorry for my sister,” he said sincerely. “She ruins lives.”

She nodded. "That was my nickname in high school. Life Ruiner.”

Ben was laughing. “Nice to meet you.”

"Will you be hitting me up for a pet too?" Alexei asked.

“No, but I am looking forward to Judith’s dog.”

Alexei gave her a look that she pointedly ignored. "Ben is looking forward to an all ASL dinner," she told her father instead.

“Yeah, I was specifically told no translator. Your mother was adamant.”

"Mom approved of him.”

“I’ve never met an entire extended family like this that speaks ASL,” Ben said. “Mine never learned more than a few signs, other than my parents. I had friends at Gallaudet whose parents never learned.”

“I knew plenty of people like that. It’s surprisingly common,” Dad said. “It is also hard to learn a new language as an adult.”

"We were raised learning it," Judith added. "Us kids joke it was our native language."

"Her first word was 'more,'" Dad felt the need to interject.

“You know I’m honestly not surprised,” Ben said.

"He's just my roommate, there's no reason to break out the embarrassing kid stories.”

Dad and Alexei exchanged a look that Judith didn’t miss. Then Dad said, “Come on, come get burgers.”

They each grabbed a plate of burgers to bring into the house, where Esther was setting up the buffet with the other pot luck items. She pointed them to where to put them down and Judith poked her head in the living room to get the rest of the family to come in and eat.

It was a nice, chill afternoon and nobody else made attempts to tell him baby stories. Though both of her sisters felt compelled to corner her and tell her she thought he was hot. Something that was particularly hilarious coming from Esther.

"I don't want to own any modern art, but I can tell when it's pretty," she retorted when called on it.

They said their goodbyes and drove home before anyone could get drunk enough to properly yenta.

"And that is my family," she said in the car once he'd rigged his glasses back up.

“I liked them. They’re way more entertaining than my family.”

She glanced over at him. "You don't talk about them much.”

“They got divorced after the Measles thing. Shared custody, eventually learned to tolerate each other. Hopefully won’t have a food fight at my wedding someday.”

"Do you have any siblings?" she asked, glaring at the oncoming cars as she tried to merge.

“I do. I have an older brother who is autistic, which is why my mother went anti-vax and almost killed me, and two half sisters who are much younger. My father got remarried.” 

"So is your dad. . . uh. . ." _Don't say sane, don't say sane, don't say-_ "Sane?" _Dammit, Judy._

Ben laughed. “Yes. And my mother eventually came around. Her and I have a decent relationship. Ryan, my brother, never really forgave her.”

"I can see how that would be a complicated thing to deal with.”

“He was non-verbal when he was young, and had been taught some basic sign language, and taught himself the rest on YouTube while I was still in the hospital. At the time my parents thought it was best if learn to lipread and get hearing aids, and it would be detrimental for me to learn ASL. Ryan gives absolutely no fucks about most things other people think, and so he taught me while they were hemming and hawing.” 

"In their defense, that can be a big conversation no matter when a child loses their hearing. I know Grandma and Grandpa discussed it, but decided it was more important to focus on Dad's best chances of communicating well so they decided to focus on ASL. Us kids all learned from birth, like most bilingual families. Plus learning English, Sokovian and Wakandan.”

“That is very impressive.”

"I also speak passable Spanish thanks to my aunt. Some of my siblings have forgot the extraneous ones, but I use them in my work, so it's been useful.”

He nodded, and was quiet a moment. “Thank you for sharing your family with me.”

She smiled and glanced over at him. "You're very welcome. There's more than enough to go around.”

*

The much anticipated dog arrived two weeks later. She was a mutt who seemed mostly poodle, based on her fur, but was actually dog-sized. Ben had never met a dog sized poodle before.

"The rescue named her Mitzi but she doesn't like it," Alexei told them when he brought her.

"Does she have a name she does like?" Judith asked crouched down to pet the dog.

"Nothing specific."

"Hmm, name I'm comfortable shouting through the neighborhood. You look like a Lilly. What do you think?”

“Does that sound as similar to your sister-in-law’s name as I think it does?” Ben asked. He could never be entirely sure what the actual pronunciation of names were. 

Judith pointed at him. "First syllable, you're right. I like the nature name, though. Iris?”

“She does not approve,” Alexei said.

"Tulip?" she asked, getting a yip from the dog. "Yeah, I was joking. I'm getting close to calling you Hey You.”

“Violet?” Ben offered.

“Aunt,” Alexei and Judith replied in unison.

"Okay, maybe we moved away from flowers." Judith crossed her arms and studied the dog a moment. “Sage?"

After a moment, Alexei nodded.

Judith smiled and rubbed the dog's side. "Good girl. Hi Sage.”

Ben had never had a dog before. Sage was Judith’s dog, of course, but he enjoyed her tremendously. She went to work with Judith most days, but sometimes Judith left her in Ben’s custody. It was a nice respite from his string of terrible job interviews.

He came home from one of said terrible interviews to find Judith home early, tossing a Kong toy for Sage to chase in the yard. She took one look at him and smiled sympathetically. "Another no?”

“I don’t interview well,” he said with a sigh.

"Is it the translator?" she asked. "I thought you'd adapted pretty well.”

“I’ve been told my voice gets louder when I am nervous. There is no way to tell, I might be shouting.”

"Ah, I hadn't noticed, but that makes sense. I don't suppose there's anything to be done about that? Practice or anything?”

“Maybe? I think it’s always been like this. It’s just a matter of finding the right place, I think. Took me a long time to find the last job, shitty as it was.”

Her mouth twisted sympathetically. "Well, I've still got feelers out. If I hear anything I'll let you know.”

“I’m sure you didn’t expect to have me here this long. . .”

"Not precisely. But I don't mind. You're a good roommate.”

He watched Sage run a moment, then looked back at her. “You sure?”

"I am. I think we get along pretty well. And it's nice to have someone to share meals with.”

“I really like living here. I’ll happily stay as long as I am welcome. But I don’t want to stay a minute longer than that.”

She grinned, looking very pretty as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Then you should get comfy."

He could feel himself blushing a little. “Thank you.”

Sage ran over to him with her kong and dropped it at his feet. When he'd thrown it, Judith said, "You wanna go out for dinner tonight? There's a new Italian place in town Mrs. Newcastle told me was ‘to die for, honey.’"

Ben laughed. “That sounds really nice.”

He changed out of his interview clothes while she fed the dog and got her settled with a pig ear.

"She's a spoiled baby," Judith said as they headed down the street. "But she deserves it.”

“You should see how I spoil her when you’re not home.”

She grinned. "Alexei told me some of her story. Her original owner was a hoarder who kept her chained up in the house. He doesn't think she ever walked on grass before she was rescued.”

“Jesus.” He looked over at her. “Now I’m not going to feel guilty about spoiling her.”

"Oh, absolutely not. We have a three years of hell to make up for.”

“I think we are up to the challenge.”

"I've already looked up recipes to bake her special treats.”

Sage was her dog, but she really did feel like _their_ dog. Ben decided not to think about this weird situation too much.

Eventually, it occurred to him that he was not actually required to work in Manhattan, particularly given that he lived in Connecticut now. Widening the search proved fruitful, and he finally found a job a twenty minute drive north. It was in a suburban office park, nowhere near the train lines. Which meant he needed to buy a car.

Judith volunteered to come along with him, and then invited the sibling of hers who could tell when people were lying. It made for entertaining car shopping, that was for sure.

"I don't care what paperwork he had, that transmission on that Mustang was on its last legs and he knew it."

Judith was laughing. "It's fine, Lior. I like this one better. Substance over style.”

“This is a perfectly adequate car,” Ben told them as they waited for the dealership to bring around very functional Honda sedan that he’d purchased. Lior had informed them it had zero sex appeal.

"He can have his mid life crisis later," Judith said, making Lior snort.

“I’m not old enough to have a midlife crisis,” Ben told them. “And this is my first car.”

"Oh, this is perfectly acceptable as a first car," Lior replied.

"I got you a present," Judith signed. He'd noticed more personal things she signed to him, even when he was wearing his glasses.

That delighted him more than he probably should let it. It felt. . . intimate. “Did you?”

She nodded and pulled out a little bag. He took and opened it to find a pair of bright red fuzzy dice. He laughed out loud. “This is perfect, thank you.”

"You're welcome. Congratulations on your new car.”

It occurred to him, not for the first time, that his life was so much better now than it would have been if he’d never met her.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben seemed to really enjoy his new job. Dinner conversation was now full of stories of his coworkers. The company he'd found work with had much better ADA policies than the original one, and the translator helped immensely.  
Judith was aware, in theory, it was probably time for him to move on and find his own place. Neither of them, however, were particularly eager to start the process. After an adulthood of living alone, it was really nice to have him around. Hanging out on the couch watching TV with Sage lounging between them were probably the happiest evenings she'd spent since she was a kid.

And Alexei got himself a girlfriend, so they didn’t hang out quite as much. Having company was nice.

Ben really enjoyed her family dinners, so she continued to bring him. At least half of her siblings were convinced that there had to be something going on. Lior, who was the arbiter on this sort of thing, backed up the truth for her. Which should put it to rest.

Her brother Dimitri could read emotions, and he seemed to disagree. Judith didn’t know what to make of that. Their mother was suspiciously silent on the entire topic. 

“So, kind of a weird thing,” Ben said when they got home from one such dinner.

"Aren't you used to my family's weird?”

“Esther asked me if I would mind if I ended up on an air mattress at Shelter Island. I was not aware I was going to Shelter Island. She laughed and told me of course I was coming and that she needed to make room assignments and ‘every year there are more people’. She sounded a little wound so I just agreed with the air mattress, but I’d love to know what she was talking about.”

Her father’s family owned a big beach house on Shelter Island. Dad’s and his five siblings divided the summer up and Judith’s parents had two weeks in August. All of the kids visited at some point, particularly the weekend in the middle. Esther had apparently decided Ben was going to be there.

"It's the summer beach house," she explained. "Everyone makes their way up there at one point or another. I guess Esther assumed you'd be coming since you come to all the dinners. . .”

“Ah,” he said. “You’re going?”

"I hadn't picked dates yet, but yeah. Probably not on my own, but I'll do a long weekend while my parents are up. Everyone makes an effort to go when they're there.”

“She told me I should bring puzzles.”

Judith sighed and shook her head. "You're under no obligation to come. I can call Esther and tell her not to count you.”

He hesitated. “Would it be weird for you if I did come?”

"No! Of course you're welcome. I think you're sort of part of the family now. I just didn't want you to feel obligated because Esther was stressed out.”

Ben grinned. “No, no, I’d love to go.”

She flashed a smile. "Good. It's a really fun time. We can bring Sage, she'll have a ball.”

Monday morning, Judith was in her office minding her own business when her cousin Agata, a member of the team who lived in the building, dropped into one of her chairs. “I hear you have a boyfriend.”

"No," she said firmly. "I do not have a boyfriend. I have a purely platonic roommate and friend.”

“That you’re bringing to the beach?”

"He comes to the Sunday dinners and Esther made an assumption. That does not mean we're dating.”

“I heard it from Inez who I think got it from Esther. You should probably. . .”

Judith spaced out on the rest of the sentence, distracted by a sudden feeling that there was _something_. It was so vague she couldn’t quite tell who or what it was about, only that it was about Agata or Inez or Esther. The ghost of a vision vanished before she could get a good look at it.

“You’re making your face,” Agata said.

"Sorry," she said, still feeling distracted. "There was something. But it's gone.”

“Ah. Well. I’m sure it’s something petty.”

"Yeah." She rubbed the back of her neck, tension building there. "I think I'm going to head out early though. There's a headache coming and I'd rather deal with it at home.”

Agata looked concerned. “You going to be okay on the train?”

"If I leave now. I've done it in the middle of an attack I can do it now.”

“Okay. You call me if you have to get off the train or something. I can follow the tracks and be out there in 10 minutes or so.” 

Judith smiled. Her cousin could be a pain in the ass, but she was all heart. "I will, thanks Ag." She kissed her cheek before gathering up her bag. "I'll let you know when I get home.”

“Thank you,” she replied.

Heading down to the train, she texted Ben. _Going home early, FYI. Might have a headache when you get home._

_You need me to come home early? I can pick up some Chinese?_

_I don't want you to get in trouble with your new job,_ she protested, even thought some dumpling soup would have been nice.

_It’s quiet here. I’ll see you at home._

She couldn't help but smile. _Thank you._

It was raining that day, so she hadn’t brought Sage with her—Sage didn’t do well with weather—and was grateful for that at the moment. Managing the dog on the train with a headache wouldn’t be fun. 

Ben not only beat her home, he met her at the train station.  
"Hey," she said, taking his offered arm. "You didn't have to meet me.”

“Eh, it was on my way.”

She wasn't sure that was entirely true, but she was glad she wouldn't have to walk home alone, since the tension in her neck was starting to spread to her head. "It's silly, I didn't even have a proper vision.”

“Did you have some kind of vision, though?”

"It was vague. I was talking to Agata and she mentioned her sister and Esther and I just suddenly had this feeling there was something important that involved one of them. Then it faded and my head started to hurt.”

“Let’s go home and eat and then we’ll try to mind map you.”

Ben had helped a great deal with figuring out her more vague premonitions. It had surprised her how much it helped to have someone to talk them out with and make connections to see the whole picture.

He got her settled on the couch with Sage, and brought the cartons of Chinese food to the coffee table. “Did I tell you that the receptionist for my building, Hannah, learned how to say good morning in ASL?”

She smiled, accepting her soup bowl. "Really? That's really sweet of her.”

“She says good morning to everyone on her way in. I understood with the translator but it was just. . . really nice.”

"It's nice when people make an effort to include you. Sometimes it's the little things.”

Ben munched on an egg roll. “It did make me think of something. When you’re trying to sort out your visions, I wonder if it works better with me because of the ASL. It’s your native language, the one the pathways in your brain were first written in.”

"That makes sense," she agreed, sipping her soup broth before hunting for a wonton. "It is more instinctive. Aunt Ora still mutters in Spanish sometimes despite all the other languages she knows." She paused, wincing at a pulse of pain. "It's definitely about one of those girls. Not Esther.”

He put his food down so he could sign. “Agata was who you were talking to? What were you talking about?”

She felt her cheeks heat, but she put her bowl down to reply in kind, "You. She heard you were coming to the Island with us.”

“Was she upset about that?"

"No. She was mostly teasing me about whether I had a boyfriend." The sign for boyfriend involved tapping your two forefingers together. Judith found herself staring at her fingers. She was pressing her fingers together so hard her knuckles were white.

"I need my phone," she said, unable to unlock her fingers. "I need to call. . . I need my phone.”

She knew he couldn’t hear her tone, but could clearly see something on her face because he leapt up, coming back with her phone.

She managed to pry her hands apart to take it and was hitting the button to call her uncle before she'd really precessed it.

"Hello," Pietro answered, sounding surprised. "To what do I-"

"You need to get to Inez's house right now," she said.

"What? Why?"

"You need to drop the phone and run to Inez's. Right. Now."

There was a clatter as he clearly did what she said. A moment later, Judith’s mother picked up the phone. “Hello?”

"Mom? You were with Uncle Pietro?”

“He was at my house, but I probably could have felt his spike of alarm from Boston, what is going on?”

"I don't know for sure. I had a vague feeling at work and came home early. Ben was helping me work through it and I just knew Pietro had to be at Inez's house right away. It has something to do with hands and maybe her boyfriend?”

“I don’t like him,” Mom said. “She keeps saying she’s going to break up with him, but. . .”

"I don't think he's going to be a problem anymore," she said with sudden certainty.

“That’s cryptic even for you and I.”

"I know, but currently it's the best I got."

“Your uncle is calling me,” her mother said suddenly. “Call you back,” she added and hung up.

Ben had, by this point, gone to the kitchen and come back with an ice-pack for her head.

She took it gratefully and leaned her head back on the couch, covering her forehead with the pack. "This is going to be a bad one.”

“Big things usually are.”

"I'm still not entirely sure what's happening. But it is definitely big.”

He sat next to her and rubbed her arm. “Just rest for a few.”

She did, until her phone started ringing. Judith expected her mother, but got her Aunt Amanda instead. “Hi. Darcy’s offline, or I wouldn’t bother you, I know you must have a migraine. I need to bring Inez down to the Tower to Tess, and we need clean up for the body.” 

"Body?" she said, sitting up right. "Who died? What's wrong with Inez?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. The way Pietro explained it, I thought you saw the whole thing. Inez’s boyfriend tried to kill her, your uncle killed him. She’s injured, not so bad I need an ambulance, but I need Tess. And then Lani. Nobody wants to involve the police.” 

"No, I didn't know details, just that he had to get to her place." She rubbed her neck and forced herself to ignore the pain in her head. "Okay. Call Tess, work with her. If you can get Inez there without drawing attention that would be best. No suits, no Pietro running down the Thruway. I will send a clean up crew to her house. And I'll call mom and Aunt Ora to get his full name and see what I can do to disappear him.”

There was a pause, and then Amanda quietly said, “You saved her life, Judy.”  
She smiled. "Good. Now I'm going to save Pietro's reputation. I'll come to the Tower when I can.”

Once she got off the phone with Amanda, she texted her mother saying she’d been updated but had arrangements to make, and tasked Mom with telling the rest of the family, if she hadn’t done so already. Ben was busy dimming all the room lights, and then getting her more ice as she started making her calls.

The Avengers had grown a bit since her mother's day. They now had strong relationships with several government agencies around the world, as well as their own non-powered ops teams for field work. In many ways, they did the work SHIELD had done, minus the evil Nazi infestation. Cleaning up acts of super power were one of their specialties.

She sent a group to her cousin's house to clean it and remove any evidence of the incident - she imagined her uncle hadn't bothered to open the door on his way in. Her mother got back to her with the boyfriend's full name and age, which was enough to get his social security number. She then brought in her favorite hacker and they worked together to place a trail indicating he'd left town. Fortunately, he was estranged from his mother and brother and had started his current job a few months ago. It would give them enough time to disappear him properly and set up some sort of overseas death.

By the time all that was done it was ten o'clock and her head felt like it was in a vice, but she had one more thing to do. "Can you drive me to the Tower?" she asked Ben.

“Of course. You want to lay in the back seat?”

"I think I can manage slumping in the front seat with sunglasses and ice.”

She napped on the drive, and by the time they got there the headache had finally started to recede. They parked in the private garage and went up in the elevators to the floor that contained Tess Bradley’s infirmary, which was tricked out like a full fledged ER. The compound in Ithaca had medical facilities, but this place was set up for trauma.

It also had an enormous waiting room, because people liked to congregate. When Judith reached the doorway, Agata quite literally materialized in front of her and launched into a hug.

Judith wrapped her arms around her, rocking her a little. " _De nada, prima._ ”

Her Uncle Pietro joined the hug, and then her mother, who gently rubbed Judith’s back. Mom’s thoughts drifted into her head. _I’m so proud of you._

_Thank you. I'm glad I sorted it out in time._

Most of her siblings were in the waiting room, but her mother kept them from bothering her as she took Judith to sit. _How is your head?_

_It's on the mend. I'll need to take tomorrow off and maybe the next day. I think the postdrome will be bad._

Mom rubbed her back. _We are going to stay in the city, at least for tonight, if you need anything._

_Thank you. Ben's been doing a good job. He's used to my headaches._ She could see him across the room, chatting with one of her brothers.

“I’m glad he’s taking care of you,” Mom said out loud.

"He's a good friend,"Judith replied, resting her head on her mother's shoulder. "He helped me work out the vague feeling.”

“It’s good to have people who understand you. Whatever your relationship might be.”

"He definitely gets me.”

Mom looked like she wanted to say something, but blessedly the door opened again, and her Aunt Ora came in. There was another round of hugging, crying, and thanking. “She’s awake and wants to see you.”

Judith nodded and headed in to the recovery room where her cousin was resting. She knew what to expect but was still startled at how beaten up Inez was. Her face was bruised, her eyes so bloodshot they were completely red, and her neck had bruises that were visible handprints. One arm was in a cast, but she lifted the other one to sign, “Thank you.”

"You're welcome," she said, going over to rest a hand on her leg and rub. "You look a lot like my head feels.”

It was a little slow and awkward for Inez to sign with one hand, but Judith imagined it was painful for her to use her voice. “I was leaving him. He didn’t take it well.”

"Yeah. I can see that." She patted her leg. "If anyone asks, he attacked you, you fought him off and he ran out of the house. That's the last you heard from him. Don't know if you want details, but in a few months he's going to be an unfortunate cartel casualty in Venezuela.”

Inez nodded. “When my Dad picks up people or things at a run, he slows down a second before touching anything to absorb his kinetic energy. What happens when he doesn’t isn’t pretty.”

The men she'd sent to the scene had used the phrase "cannon ball meeting a melon" to describe it. "A clean up crew has been to your place. There's no sign of what happened. They fixed the door and wall your dad damaged, too. And took out all of your ex's things they could identify. Whenever you go back it will look like nothing ever happened.”

She shook her head. “I don’t think I want to go back.”

"I can start proceedings to get it packed up and sold, if you want.”

Inez smiled, and then winced because her lip was split. “Thank you.”

"It's what I do." She leaned over and kissed an unbruised part of her forehead. "Get some rest, _prima_. You're safe now.”

When Judith got back out into the hallway, Alexei was standing out there. He didn’t say anything, just opened his arms.

She sighed and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. _It's been the longest day ever._

_I know._ There was something very soothing about Alexei. It was something she couldn’t really name, or define, but her father was exactly the same. A point of calm, steady even in the middle of a hurricane.

She soaked in in for a few long minutes, then lifted her head. "She's okay. Beat up, but alive. I'm going to get her stuff packed and her house sold for her.”

He nodded. “You want to crash with me tonight so you don’t have to drive back to Connecticut?”

"I have Ben with me," she said. "He'll drive. And I'm taking tomorrow off.”

“You’ll be okay? He’ll take care of you?”

She smiled. "It's not his first day on icepack duty.”

“You call me if you need me?”

"I promise," she told him. "Come over tomorrow and cook me lunch or something.”

“I promise,” he told her. “Go home and get some sleep.”

She kissed his cheek and headed back to the waiting room. Ben hopped to his feet when she appeared and she beelined towards him. "Hey. I should go while I'm still upright.”

He nodded and held his arm out. “How are you?"

"On the mend," she said, taking his arm. "Making a list of everything I need to deal with tomorrow.”

“If you need to come in, I can drive you. I took tomorrow off.”

"You didn't have to do that," she chided. 

“I told them I had a family emergency.”

They'd reached the elevator and he hit the button to take them to the parking garage. "That's sweet of you," Judith said. "Thank you.”

“I gotcha,” he said with a smile.

"Alexei's going to come over and make food," she said. "Just to warn you.”

“As it happens, I like food. And your brother.”

She smiled and yawned, squeezing his arm. "Works out nicely then.”

When they got home, he herded her to her bedroom, and then came back with more ice, painkillers, and some tea. “I’m going to take Sage for a walk, will you be okay?”

"Yes, I'll probably be asleep before you hit the end of the block.”

“Text me if you need me.”

"I'll be _fine_ ," she assured him. "Go decompress with the dog.” He hesitated a moment, then finally left.

Judith took a few sips of the tea he'd brought her and found he'd put honey and a splash of cream in, just as she liked it. She took a few more sips and set in on her night strand before lying down with her ice. She was out like a light in no time.


End file.
